


Party Time

by sorryinadvance



Series: We're More Than A Band [3]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Gay Character, Costumes, Dark Humor, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fairy Alex, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Hot Dog Reggie, Jealous Luke Patterson, Julie and the phantoms - Freeform, Light Angst, M/M, Minor Carlos, Minor Flynn, Minor Ray, POV Alternating, Pirate Luke, Why Did I Write This?, willie - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:20:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26692093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sorryinadvance/pseuds/sorryinadvance
Summary: Juie invites the guys to a party. Reggie wears a hot dog costume. Ghost bfs are official. Luke and Julie are hopeless. Luke gets jealous.
Relationships: Alex & Luke Patterson & Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Luke Patterson & Reggie & Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Series: We're More Than A Band [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1931422
Comments: 29
Kudos: 594





	Party Time

**Author's Note:**

> This came out way longer than expected & it's a mess. I had the idea, and it wouldn't get out of my head. It's pretty rough around the edges. 
> 
> There's no Caleb possessing NIck or anything. Everything is fine after the Orpheum performance, and the band gets to be teenagers for once. 
> 
> Please be nice. I know it's kind of ooc, but this fic is like my ugly baby. Enjoy!

**Los Angeles, 2020—Julie’s POV**

“So, have you decided if you’re going to Nick’s Halloween party tomorrow night?” Flynn asked as they walked down the hall afterschool.

Julie frowned. “Flynn, you literally asked me at lunch if I had decided yet.”

“Three and a half hours is a perfectly good amount of time for you to decide if you’re going to a party that the guy who you’ve had a crush on for years is having at his house. Come on, Jules. Why are you being so weird about this?” Flynn rolled her eyes.

Julie knew she shouldn’t be so iffy about going to the party. Two months ago, she would have said yes to going in a second. Now, there are three idiot ghosts probably sitting in her garage right now who have changed everything for her. She also knew that Flynn was feeling a little left out considering all the time Julie has been spending writing songs and practicing with the guys.

“Ya know, why don’t we just blow off the party and just hang out at my house and watch scary movies like we used to?”

It was Flynn’s turn to frown. “I was really looking forward to this party. It’s all everyone has been talking about, and we’re actually invited this time! Besides, I think you could use a break.”

_Yup, there it is_ , Julie thought. She knew this would come up. She stopped at the bottom of the steps outside the school.

“A break from what exactly?” Julie asked quietly.

“Oh my God, Jules,” Flynn groaned, turning to face her. “All you do is work with the guys. It’s okay to take a break every once in a while. I’m sure Luke can handle being away from you for one night.”

Julie chewed on the bottom lip for a moment before nodding. “You’re right. Let’s go! It would be nice to just let loose and hang out for once. We can even go costume shopping tomorrow morning if you want?”

Flynn squealed in delight, “Yes! I have so many costume ideas for us! We can sort out the details later, okay? My mom’s here.”

Laughing, Julie nodded. “Sounds like a plan! I’ll see you later.”

She watched as her best friend got into her mom’s SUV before she began walking down the sidewalk to her own house. This was her favorite part of the day. The walk home was short, but it was a nice break for her to be alone and just think.

As Julie walked, she couldn’t help but think that maybe Flynn was right. Her and the guys had been working a lot lately and maybe tomorrow night would be a good chance to just relax and be teenagers for once. Maybe she could try convincing Flynn to take the guys along to the party. If Julie got a chance to take a break, then it would be nice for the guys to go and interact with other people for once. Besides, it would be a good chance for Julie to get her annoying classmates off her back. They had been constantly pestering her about meeting the rest of her band and finding out who the real holograms were, and the little white lie she came up with about them being from Sweden was starting to lose effectiveness.

Ever since the night they performed at the Orpheum, the guys had gotten a better handle of physically manifesting themselves as long as they stayed close to her. None of them really understood what had changed in order for them to do it, but they weren’t complaining. The guys just liked the fact that they could be seen again, even if it was only temporary.

By the time she got to her house, Julie had decided she would bring the idea up to the guys before they got to work writing new songs.

As she made her way around back towards the garage, she could hear Reggie’s laugh and Alex’s exasperated voice.

Julie moved to swing the door open in time to see Reggie throw a drumstick across the room to Luke, who was sitting on top of her grand piano. Alex had jumped up to try and snatch the drumstick out of the air and missed completely.

“What are you guys doing?” Julie asked, knowing she wasn’t going to like the answer.

“Julie, thank God! Tell these two idiots to give me my drumstick back!” Alex shouted as he swiped up in the air to get the drumstick that passed over his head and into Reggie’s waiting hands.

“Don’t listen to him, Jules! He’s just cranky because he’s too slow and a waste of height,” Luke called to her.

“Hi Julie!” Reggie turned to greet her with an arm slung over her shoulder. Unfortunately, Alex moved to try and grab the drumstick away from him, and Reggie shoved her between them to keep the other ghost away. This resulted in Julie being shoved back and forth between them as Alex tried to move her out of the way and Reggie trying to block him.

Luke still sat perched on the grand piano with a grin on his face as he watched his friends pushing Julie around as she tried not to laugh at their childish behavior.

“Guys! Stop pushing me,” Julie said, finally getting frustrated with being shoved around. “Regginald, give Alex his drumstick back!”

“Uh oh, not the Mom voice,” Reggie paled and handed the stick back to his friend.

Alex laughed, “That’s what you get, you little shit! You shouldn’t have gotten poor Julie involved.”

Julie turned to slap Reggie’s shoulder. “I already told you I don’t have a Mom voice!”

“Yes you do,” Luke said as he slid off the grand piano.

“You know, I was going to come in here and ask you guys if you wanted to do something fun, but now I changed my mind! You three don’t deserve it.”

Julie dropped onto the sofa and crossed her arms. She pretended not to notice how the guys all exchanged looks before turning back to her curiously. One by one, they all came to sit around her. Luke sat on the center table in front of her, Reggie and Alex dropped onto the sofa on either side of her. All three boys stared at her curiously.

“Well, now Julie. We’re interested. What were you gonna ask us?” Luke asked.

Julie let out a little “hmph” before leaning around Luke to get the song journal off the table. She didn’t even have it in her lap before Luke gripped the edge of the journal.

Julie met his gaze evenly. The orange beanie on his head pushed his brown waves into his eyes and there was a small smirk on his face. She broke eye contact with Luke to glance at the two boys beside her. Reggie was looking at her with his best puppy dog look on his face, and Alex was looking positively angelic with his big blue eyes shining brightly at her.

She turned back to Luke before leaning back against the sofa and crossing her arms once again. She even went so far as to bring her legs up and cross her ankles in Luke’s lap. The ghost boy glanced down at her boot clad feet on his jeans and raised an eyebrow at her.

“Are you really going to make us beg?” Alex asked as Reggie threw his arms around her and pulled her head onto his chest.

“Julie!” Reggie whined in her ear. “Tell us!”

“Yeah, we’re _dying_ to know,” Alex chuckled.

They all let out a laugh at his dark humor.

“Okay, fine. I’ll tell you if Reggie lets go of my head,” Julie’s voice came out muffled against Reggie’s tank top.

He immediately released his hold on her and gently sat her up again. He even smoothed her curls down and patted her head in apology.

“So, there’s this party tomorrow night and apparently it’s supposed to be this big deal. Flynn really wants to go, and I was thinking that maybe it would be a good chance for us to take a break from practicing.”

Luke sat back on his hands. “You wanna go to that party?”

Julie shrugged. “I mean, it might be fun. Plus, it might be fun for you guys to get out of the garage and be around people again. You know, outside of just performing.”

“You think that’s a good idea? We’ve barely got a handle on this whole being physical again thing. We don’t really know how far we can go away from you without poofing out again,” Alex said hesitantly.

“I think you guys can handle it,” was all Julie said.

“Well, I think a party might be fun! Hey, we can dress up too!” Reggie chimed in.

Luke laughed but there was a bitter edge to it.

“As what? Ghosts? Oh wait, we already get to be that every day for all of eternity,” Luke grumbled.

Julie rolled her eyes. “Well, if you don’t want to go then you don’t have to, you fun sucker. And Alex, if you don’t feel comfortable with it, then I completely understand. Reggie can tag along with me and Flynn.”

She turned to Reggie and smiled at him. “We’re going to go costume shopping tomorrow morning. You should come!”

“You think they have any Star Wars costumes? Han Solo would be a badass costume!”

“I’m sure they do. If not, we can throw something together for you! Flynn is amazing at stuff like that,” Julie told him.

If it was possible, Reggie’s face managed to light up even more. His eyes almost seemed to sparkle with how happy he looked.

“Okay, okay. Enough chitchat. Let’s get to work!” Luke clapped his hands and stood.

Julie and Reggie both groaned. Alex patted Julie’s shoulder sympathetically before following Luke towards their instruments.

**Reggie’s POV**

They called it a night on practicing when Carlos ran into the garage to tell Julie their dad had finished making dinner. Julie left with a small kiss to each of the boy’s heads and a reminder for Reggie about the costume shopping tomorrow morning.

“I know you’re going to be with Julie and Flynn tomorrow, but just be careful, okay? Try not to freak out any lifers by poofing in and out,” Alex interrupted Reggie’s excited chatter about finding a good Han Solo costume.

“I don’t know why you even want to go to that party. It’s just going to be a bunch of high school kids,” Luke said from where he was sitting on the floor, shuffling through sheet music.

Reggie rolled his eyes. “Because it’s gonna be fun! It would be nice to do something normal and not ghosty for once. Plus being able to hang out with Julie and Flynn is going to be great! I’m actually surprised you weren’t the one to jump at the chance. You used to love Halloween.”

“Yeah, that was before our lives, or dead lives, or whatever you want to call what we’re doing, turned every freaking day into Halloween,” Luke snarked at him.

Reggie raised an eyebrow at his friend and turned to Alex, who just shrugged.

“Anyways, yeah, I’ll be extra, super duper careful, _Dad,_ ” Reggie told Alex. “You really think Julie will let me do anything stupid?”

“Yeah, okay. I’m going to find Willie. Have fun with Grumpy,” Alex lowered his voice when he said the last part and nodded towards Luke.

Reggie gave him a salute and watched his friend poof out to find his ghost boyfriend. He turned to look at Luke for a second before standing up from the armchair and stretching.

“So, you going to tell me what crawled up your butt?” Reggie asked.

Luke’s jaw ticked but he didn’t respond. He just kept looking through the sheet music.

Reggie sighed and a thought popped into his head. He smiled mischievously and began slowly coming around to sneak up on Luke from behind. The other boy was so busy trying to ignore him that he didn’t notice when Reggie was right behind him. He reached through Luke’s chest and knocked the papers out of his hands.

Both boys watched in silence as the sheet music fluttered in the air in front of them before scattering on the wooden floor.

A moment passed before Luke suddenly lunged at Reggie, but he had already vanished and reappeared a good ten feet away from where he was standing.

“What the hell did you do that for?” Luke yelled as he followed after the other boy.

Reggie quickly backed up to stand behind the grand piano. He raised his arms in front of him to keep Luke away just in case.

“You were avoiding the question,” was all Reggie said.

Luke glared at him from under the long fringe that was falling into his eyes. “It was a stupid question, so I chose not to respond. Stop reading so much into things, Reg. You’re gonna hurt your brain.”

Reggie ignored Luke’s attempts to bait him into an argument. His friend had started trying to dart around the piano towards him, but Reggie was quick to move away. Luke was like a T-rex, big head and short arms, so Reggie totally had the advantage. 

“So why are you all pissy?” Reggie asked.

“Who said I was pissy? You’re the one acting all weird,” Luke shot back.

Reggie couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh yeah, okay. Says the one who got all cranky when Julie invited us to that party with the lifers.”

If Reggie were anyone else, he wouldn’t have noticed the way one of Luke’s eyes twitched a little. Reggie, however, knew Luke probably better than he knew himself, and that small twitch completely gave his best friend away.

“Whatever, man. I didn’t get weird. I just don’t wanna be with a bunch of high schoolers. That’s all,” Luke tried for a nonchalant tone, but another eye twitch gave him away.

“You’re so full of shit. I think you’re just jealous that Julie might go and see Nick and realize she might actually have feelings for the kid.”

Reggie remembered the day of the garage party when Luke popped in after talking to Julie at school. Luke couldn’t stop making fun of the kid that was obviously flirting with Julie and saying how much of a dweeb he was. He spent most of the afternoon just ranting on and on about how Julie could do way better, while Alex and Reggie just sat there and exchanging amused looks every so often. Then the way he reacted after Reggie had pointed out how much chemistry him and Julie had was pathetic. Luke tried so hard to act like he had no clue what he was talking about, but then he got so butthurt when Julie ignored him during their performance that night. The fact that Luke had made up a riff just to get her attention and then got all up close and personal with her at the end of the song had Reggie and Alex dying with laughter.

Luke’s eye twitched even more noticeable this time. He forced a laugh that sounded more like he was choking.

“Reggie, buddy, you’re just a fucking comedian today, huh?” Luke said between his choked-out laughter.

“First of all, I’m always a comedian. Second of all, just admit it. You’re scared of losing Julie—” Reggie was cut off when Luke suddenly jumped onto the piano and tried snatching at his shirt.

He dodged his friend’s hands and poofed up to the loft.

“Admit it, Luke! You’re scared of losing her!”

“Okay! Fine! I am scared of losing her, but not to that punk, Nick,” Luke yelled up to him.

_Holy shit, I broke Luke,_ Reggie thought to himself as he stared down at his friend. He didn’t think he would actually admit it.

Luke slumped against the piano and dropped his head in his hands. He let out a frustrated groan against his palms.

“What do you mean?” Reggie asked when he reappeared next to Luke, who stayed silent.

Reggie nudged Luke’s head enough so he could see him raise his eyebrows, clearly waiting for a response.

Luke groaned again as he rubbed his eyes. Finally, he slapped his palms against the piano and said, “I’m scared that she’s going to realize that having lifers as friends is way better than being friends with three ghosts. That she doesn’t have to worry about people thinking she’s crazy when she talks to her normal friends out in public. That being in a band with normies is so much easier than being in a band with us. She won’t have to keep hiding things and lying to people, especially her family.”

Reggie blinked at him. “You’re telling me that you’re worried about all that and your solution is to be a dick and push her away? Giving her even more reason to prefer them over us? Over you? Wow, all these years I thought you were so smart, and here you are acting like a total moron.”

Luke glared at him. He opened his mouth to speak, but Reggie cut him off.

“No, seriously. You’re so worried about Julie picking lifers over us that your great idea is to not hang out with her when she asks you to and then have the audacity to get mad when she says she’s going anyways. Bro, get over yourself and get your head out of your ass. She asked us to go with her because she likes being around us, you dumbass T-rex.”

Luke’s glare melted into confusion. “Did you just call me a T-rex?”

**Alex’s POV**

Alex was walking around the park, looking for his boyfriend when someone suddenly yelled behind him. He whirled around in time to see Willie coming straight towards him on his skateboard at full speed. He knocked into Alex hard enough to send both ghosts tumbling onto the sidewalk.

Willie laughed and picked himself up to look down at Alex.

“Hey, hotdog! Missed you,” he said in that breathy way that always made Alex’s heart flutter.

“Yeah, I missed you, too. Now can you get off? Your knee is digging into my stomach,” Alex groaned.

His boyfriend laughed again as he moved off Alex and offered him a hand up.

Alex let the ghost boy pull him up back to standing and his cheeks suddenly blushed cherry red when Willie dropped a small peck onto his cheek in apology.

“Is that going to be our thing now? You running me over with your skateboard? Because I don’t know if ghosts can bruise, but my ass is going to start getting some if you keep doing that,” Alex grumbled.

“Cry baby. Maybe that’s just how I show affection,” Willie smirked at him.

“Uh, huh. Sure,” Alex muttered while Willie walked over to pick up his board from where it rolled when he tackled him.

Willie carried his board in one hand and grabbed Alex’s hand with the other. He began leading him towards a park bench and chatting about how he had scared the heck out of some assholes who were catcalling a girl on the street earlier in the day.

“And then I possessed him and made him throw up green ectoplasm like in Ghostbusters,” Willie said. Alex hummed in response.

“Dude, you’re not even listening! Where’s your head at?” Willie nudged Alex to catch his attention.

“I—what do you mean? I’m fine, totally fine. My head is one hundred percent focused on you,” Alex shook his head and turned to face Willie completely.

Despite the reassuring smile Alex was sending him, Willie raised an eyebrow at him and sat quietly, waiting.

Alex groaned, “Okay, so before rehearsal, Julie invited us to go to some Halloween party tomorrow night with her. Reggie was completely down to go, and I kind of want to go. But…”

Willie nodded slowly. “But you’re worried about being able to stay tangible for so long,” he completed his boyfriend’s sentence.

“Exactly! Like, I get where Julie was coming from about wanting just one night to mess around and be normal—or about as normal as we can get. Plus, I think it would be nice to see that other side of Julie’s life, ya know? Then again, maybe we should let her go alone and be with her lifer friends. Like we all care about her so much, but I feel like maybe we’re straining the other parts of her life with all these secrets. I know she wants us to go, but maybe we should let her be a normal teenager.”

Willie chewed on his bottom lip for a moment and Alex had to really try not to stare at the action. He was so focused on trying not to focus on his boyfriend’s lips that he jumped when Willie started talking again.

“I think that if Julie invited you guys to go hang out with her at this party, then it’s because she genuinely enjoys being around ya’ll. And maybe she wants to be able to bring both sides of her life together, even just for a night, and have fun. I mean, from what you guys told me, ya’ll are pretty tangible when you’re around her and have been getting a good grip on staying like that for a while. Maybe it’s worth a shot to try? If you’re comfortable with it of course.”

Alex considered his boyfriend’s words before responding, “Yeah, maybe we could try practicing. She mentioned to Reggie about going costume shopping tomorrow morning, so maybe we could do a little test run tomorrow? If that doesn’t work, then we probably shouldn’t go. Hey, why don’t you come with us? I know being around so many lifers might not be your scene, but it could be fun?”

His boyfriend smiled softly.

“Being surrounded by lifers would totally be worth it if it means I get to hang out with you. Plus, I could finally meet this Julie of yours.”

Alex felt his heart flutter at his boyfriend’s words. _God, I am so gone for this guy,_ Alex thought to himself.

**Julie’s POV**

Julie had just gotten comfortable into her bed when Luke suddenly popped up into her room. He looked around the dark room before focusing on her. In the dark, he couldn’t see that her eyes were open, and she was staring at him. From the faint light coming in from her window, she could see Luke slowly lowering himself onto her bean bag, facing the bed.

She was about to open her mouth and ask what he was doing in her room, when he started whispering.

“I know you’re not awake, but I wanted to say I’m sorry. I acted like an ass earlier. I shouldn’t have acted like that, and trust me, Reggie ripped me a new one about it.”

She was going to give Reggie a big hug when she saw him in the morning. He was the best at getting through to Luke when he got into his weird moods, and Julie was so grateful for him.

“I just wanted to say that the reason I acted like that is because…I’m scared. I’m scared you might realize how much better it is to be with lifers, that it’s so much easier to be with them than it is with us. I can’t lose anyone else, Jules. Especially not you.”

His voice had started trembling sightly and it made Julie’s heart break. She sat up in her bed and twisted the knob on her lamp to illuminate the room.

Luke’s eyes widened. “Have you been awake this entire time?”

“Yup. Let me just say that there is no way I could pick anyone over you guys. You’re my band, and I love you guys so much. It doesn’t matter that I have to keep hiding and lying to people about ya’ll. I mean yeah it sucks, but we all knew what it would mean to be in a band together,” Julie told him.

The look on his face was something that Julie could only describe as a puppy dog look. She swore he was a puppy in another life.

Smiling at the thought, she slid out from under her covers and walked over to him. Julie tried not to think about how he was watching her so intently the entire time she moved towards him or how he straightened up when she knelt down to become eye level with him.

“Now that you’re done acting like an idiot, did you want to go with me and Reggie tomorrow?”

Luke smiled so brightly that Julie was sure, if he were a puppy, his tail would be wagging. He leaned forward to throw his arms around her shoulders and nuzzle his head into the crook of her neck.

“Oh my God, yes!” she heard him say.

They held each other for a moment before Julie pulled away and stood up.

“Okay, it’s late. Get out of my room, so I can go to sleep!” she told him.

Grinning, Luke gave her a lazy salute and a “Yes, ma’am” that Julie swore didn’t make her head fuzzy, before he poofed out.

_That boy is going to be the death of me,_ Julie thought to herself as she climbed back into her bead. Shaking her head, she turned her lamp off once again and buried herself under her blankets.

As she drifted off to sleep, all she could think was that tomorrow was going to be a very interesting day.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Julie really hates being right.

It’s seven in the morning and the sound of hushed voices brings her out of her dreams.

“Reg, it’s early. Why do you want to wake her up already? We aren’t going to the shops until 10,” Alex hissed at the other boy.

She suddenly felt her bed shift down. Reggie must have sat down by her legs.

“I’m too excited! I can’t wait anymore,” he whined.

“Julieeeee,” Reggie whispered, “Julie, are you awake?”

“I’m going to kill you,” Julie muttered.

“Julie! Good morning!” Reggie jumped on top of her, wrapping his arms around her head.

“Reggie, sweetie, it’s too early for this. Why are you guys in my room?” Julie asked. Finally opening her eyes, she saw Alex standing at the edge of her bed and Luke was slouched in her desk chair and giving her a sleepy smile.

When the guys had first come back as ghosts, they said they didn’t need to sleep and usually spent their nights out on the town, scoping out the music scene and catching up on 25 years’ worth of pop culture. Ever since they were able to touch each other, the guys started needing to take small naps since becoming physical again. Apparently all the sudden changes were a little too much for their ghost energies to keep up with. It wasn’t uncommon for Julie to walk into the studio and see one or all of the boys sleeping curled up on the pull-out couch together. Sometimes, on days when she was feeling particularly affectionate or tired, Julie would join them and revel in the feeling of being wrapped safely in their arms.

“Did he drag you two out of bed, too?”

Both boys nodded. Alex suddenly let out a big yawn, which made Luke and Julie both yawn. Reggie hadn’t released his hold on her head, so she figured she might as well get comfortable. She waved a hand at Luke and Alex, motioning for them to come join her and Reggie on the bed.

“Cuddle party,” Reggie cooed. They all chuckled at him as Alex and Luke slid onto the bed. Luke tucked himself behind Julie and Alex simply sprawled across all three of them. Luke’s arm clung to Alex’s sweater, Reggie loosened his arms on her head to slide them down her shoulders instead, while Julie tangled her fingers into Alex’s hair. Since Alex was spread on top of them, his arms reached around to hold both Luke’s and Reggie’s arms, squeezing them even closer. Julie was grateful for them being ghosts and having a cooler body temperature because she wouldn’t be able to handle their body heat in this position if they were alive.

“Just a few more hours and we can go to the costume store,” Luke whispered to Reggie. The other boy nodded before cuddling closer to Julie. In a matter of minutes, the four of them were all asleep.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Julie woke up a few hours later to the sound of soft snoring in her ear.

She opened her eyes and felt someone’s face shifting against her neck. A quick glance confirmed Reggie had buried his head into her curls and was the source of the soft snores in her ear. Julie turned her head to the right to see Luke with his forehead pressed against her shoulder and his arms wrapped around her arm, hugging it to his chest. She realized her hands were still tangled in Alex’s hair as he rested his head on her stomach and she moved to smooth his hair down.

The soft movement of her hands must have woken him up because Alex let out a low groan before opening his eyes and moving so he could smile up at her.

A knock on her door made them all stiffen. Luke and Reggie immediately snapped awake.

“Hey, Jules! Time to get up if you want to make it to the shop on time! Flynn is already downstairs,” her Dad called to her from the other side of the door.

“Okay, I’ll be right down!” she called back. She waited until she heard him walk away from her door and back downstairs before speaking, “Alright, time to get up!”

Luke and Reggie both groaned. Alex pushed himself off them and rolled over to climb off the bed. Julie nudged Luke, but he refused to move.

“Luke, I need to get up,” she nudged him again. He shook his head before clinging onto her arm even tighter.

Sighing, Julie looked over at Alex in exasperation, who just sent her a cheeky grin.

She narrowed her eyes at the blonde.

Knowing if she didn’t get up soon, her dad would come back to check on her, and she really wasn’t in the mood to explain why there were ghost boys in her room right now. Or, even worse, if Flynn comes in and sees them all cuddled up, she will have some _serious_ explaining to do. She could already hear her best friend scolding her for cuddling with them and not being careful about getting so close to them. Flynn’s current motto for Julie was: Always protect your heart, even with those cute ghost boys with the perfect smiles and dead eyes.

Julie bent her legs up to place her feet against Luke’s side. She pushed with her legs and free arm with all her might. At first, nothing happened and Luke quietly laughed at her attempt to get him off the bed. Then, Reggie began pushing from her other side and both Julie and Luke tumbled off the bed and into a pile on the floor.

Alex, Reggie, and Julie all laughed as Luke cursed from underneath her.

“You should have gotten up when I told you to,” Julie taunted him. She pushed against his back to push herself off the ground, making him grunt.

“Traitor,” Luke grumbled at Reggie as the boy leaned off the bed to help his friend up from the ground. The bassist sent him a bright smile in return.

“Get out of here, you three. I need to get ready. We’re going to the shops down on Hamilton, meet us there?” Julie asked, walking to her closet and avoiding Alex’s outstretched legs as he attempted to trip her. She flicked the blonde in the forehead twice as payback for not helping her.

“Yes, ma’am!” Reggie gave her a warm smile before poofing out.

Luke was too busy rubbing at his eyes to give her a response. He was definitely grumpy about being shoved off the bed, she thought to herself.

Alex stood and ran a hand through his hair. “I decided to go tonight after all. I invited Willie, too. Is that cool?”

“Yeah, of course! I can finally meet this heartthrob you’re always telling me about,” Julie teased him.

He smiled at her before dropping a small kiss to the top of her head and poofing out, too.

Julie turned back to her clothes and pulled out a pair of jeans and an orange sweater. When she turned, Luke was standing directly behind her.

She let out an embarrassing squeal when she came face to face with the ghost boy.

Luke laughed, “It’s cool if I go, right? Even though I acted like a jackass yesterday?”

Julie smiled genuinely at him and nodded. He sent her a soft smile.

“Cool, I’ll see you at the shops,” he glanced down at the sweater in her arms before gazing back up at her. “Nice color, Jules,” was the last thing she heard before he poofed out after his friends.

Shaking her head, Julie made her way to the restroom to take a quick shower before meeting Flynn downstairs.

**Luke’s POV**

Luke and the guys had vanished back to the garage to change out of their clothes from yesterday and hang out until it was time to meet Julie and Flynn at the shops.

When ten o’clock came around, they poofed out onto Hamilton Street in time to see the girls climbing out of Ray’s SUV and waving goodbye. The guys waited until Ray drove off to walk up to Julie.

She smiled at them and nudged Flynn, who was talking about something called Pinterest and costume ideas. The other girl looked up from her phone just as the guys materialized when they got closer to Julie.

“Hello, boys,” Flynn smiled at them. Alex immediately moved to her side to talk to her about a new pop culture reference he had learned about this past week. The pair linked arms and began to walk into the costume shop with the other three trailing behind.

Reggie had his arm slung over her shoulders while Luke walked on her other side and caught his pinky in hers. Reggie was talking Julie’s ear off about his Han Solo costume idea, and she enthusiastically told him about how she could fix his hair to match Harrison Ford’s character in the old Star Wars movies.

It was at that moment that Luke realized just how grateful he was for how well Julie handled his best friend. Luke and Reggie had been best friends since they were ten, and he knew just how much of a handful the other boy was. Luke had gotten into countless fights growing up in Reggie’s defense because other kids taunted him when Luke wasn’t around or would tell him to shut up because he was annoying. Reggie had grown up fast in his house thanks to his parents’ constant fighting, but he was always so cheerful and full of life when he was out of the house and with his friends. Luke knew what his friend dealt with and always let him be himself without complaints. When they met Alex and Bobby their freshman year of high school, it took awhile for Reggie to grow on them. After a few months, Alex realized what was going on at home and quickly became extremely protective of Reggie. Bobby always had a short temper and had even snapped at the bassist a few times, but he eventually got used to the excited nature of the other boy. When they met Julie, Reggie was his usual enthusiastic self and the human girl took it in stride. She never complained or told him to be quiet. Instead, Julie always encouraged Reggie and reminded him how amazing and loved he was.

They made their way into the costume shop and immediately went their separate ways. Flynn returned to Julie’s side and tugged her out from under Reggie’s arm to take her towards the women’s section.

Julie paused and turned back to the three boys expectantly. They all smiled sweetly back at her.

She raised an eyebrow at them. “Tell me those three little words,” Julie told them. Flynn glanced at her, obviously confused.

“We love you?” Alex tried. Luke put on his best angelic smile. Reggie made a heart with his hands.

Julie wasn’t impressed. “Try again.”

Sighing, all three boys raised their hands and counted out the three words with their fingers: “We will behave.”

Luke rolled his eyes when Julie smiled at them before walking away. He heard Flynn say, “Wow, you’ve really got them trained, huh?”

“Trained my ass,” he mumbled to himself.

Reggie grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the men’s section, talking a mile a minute about finding the perfect costume for him. They stopped when they realized Alex hadn’t followed them through the aisle.

They turned back to see Alex walking down the aisle the girls had disappeared into. Shrugging, Luke and Reggie continued walking.

The two boys had browsed through costumes and Reggie was very disappointed when he found the Han Solo costume was extremely inaccurate and blew him into a tangent about movie inaccuracies. Luke nodded along, listening as his best friend cursed the new Star Wars movies and swore they ruined the franchise.

Reggie suddenly cut off midsentence. Luke glanced up to see the other boy staring at a costume bag in his hands. He couldn’t tell what it was, so Luke walked over to his friend and pushed onto his toes to peek over his shoulder.

It was a _hotdog_ costume.

“Um, Reg? You, uh, you okay?” Luke asked hesitantly.

Reggie’s head shot up and he met Luke’s gaze. “I need it,” was all he said before shooting off to the fitting rooms in the back of the store. Luke immediately darted after him.

His friend’s long legs gave him an advantage and he beat Luke to the fitting rooms by a longshot. By the time Luke got there, he saw Reggie’s flannel on the ground and the plastic package all bunched up next to it behind one of the curtains.

Moments later, Reggie snapped the curtain open and stepped out in all his hotdog glory.

The costume was so big that it dropped down to his knees and his arms didn’t look like they could move very well. There was a face cut out in the middle of the weenie, and Reggie’s proud grin popped out from the hole.

Luke chewed on the inside of his cheek. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to laugh or stare in horror. After all, they died eating a tainted hot dog, and yet here was his best friend looking very smug in a hot dog costume.

“A hot dog, dude. Really?” was what came out of Luke’s mouth. Reggie frowned at him.

“It’s funny and you know it,” Reggie told him with a self-assured nod.

Luke chuckled, “Whatever you say, buddy. Can we go get a costume for me now? Are you gonna stick with the weenie of death?”

“You’re just jealous.”

Luke raised an eyebrow at the other boy. Reggie started dancing around him in his hotdog costume and just looked completely ridiculous as he sang, “You’re just jealous. Na, na, na, na, na, na!”

“What am I jealous of exactly?”

“That you aren’t gonna find a better costume than mine,” Reggie said in a snooty tone. He was practically channeling Carrie, and Luke was very impressed.

“A hot dog is a lame costume, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find a better one,” Luke teased him.

As he turned to walk away, he felt Reggie’s hand smack the back of his head. His beanie flew off his head and landed on the floor.

He slowly faced Reggie and saw the boy had a smug look on his face again. “Did you just hit me?”

The hotdog nodded, “Yeah, I did. Whatcha gonna do about it?”

Luke blinked at him before slapping at his friend’s arm. Just like that, a slap fight began.

The two ghosts chased each other around the chairs in front of the fitting rooms. They slapped each other harder and harder. Luke suddenly turned around, catching Reggie off guard, and shoved his face back. The force of the push made Reggie topple over onto his back.

Since he was still in the hotdog costume and couldn’t really move his arms, Reggie couldn’t get himself up.

Luke laughed so hard his stomach started burning as he watched Reggie struggle and flap his arms around, trying to find the momentum to get off the ground. 

**Julie’s POV**

“You have got to be kidding me,” Julie muttered under her breath as she watched her two idiot bandmates struggling.

Luke was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down his face as Reggie was on his back in a hotdog costume, looking very much like an overturned turtle, struggling to get off his back.

Julie had been drawn to the fitting room area when she heard Reggie’s very distinct voice singing “Na, na, na, na, na” while she was looking at costume make up. Flynn was helping Alex find his size in the costume he decided on, and they hadn’t heard the commotion. She knew she would regret following the sound of the boy’s voice, and here she was, absolutely regretting it.

With a sigh, she walked away before either boy could notice her. She was still shaking her head at them when she got back to Flynn and Alex.

“What’s wrong? Are the idiots doing something they shouldn’t?” Alex laughed quietly at her facial expression.

“Trust me, you don’t want to know,” she told him, “Anyways, are you serious about getting matching costumes with me??”

Alex nodded, “Of course! I think it would be cool.”

Julie smiled brightly at him.

“Okay, so I think I found the perfect make up for ya’ll to wear tonight!” Flynn announced with a handful of make-up palettes in her arms.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

After another two hours of shopping, the group all left the costume store with bags with their costumes and props.

Julie had argued against the guys when they said they would just poof out of the store with their stuff. Luke, of course, won the argument by saying, “Jules, we’re ghosts. How do you expect us to pay for this? With our little ghost debit cards?”

As much as she hated the idea, Flynn agreed with the guys, especially since the only other option was for the girls to pay for their stuff. Neither girl had the funds to do that, so they let the boys disappear out of the shop with their stuff. However, Julie did notice a handful of bills being placed onto the counter by an invisible set of hands.

She smiled at whichever ghost boy was the culprit before following Flynn outside.

The boys left Julie and Flynn before her dad pulled up to the curb with promises to be in her room after dinner so they could get ready for the party together.

When the girls got back to Julie’s house, they showed Julie’s dad what they had bought, and he said how he couldn’t wait to see them in full costume later tonight.

Back in her room, Julie was looking up make up ideas for her costume and Flynn was trying to learn a new TikTok dance. The girl had a heavy following on the social media app and was always sure to keep up with the newest trends.

There was a knock at her door and Alex’s floating head appeared through the door.

“Hey, can I come in?” he asked shyly.

Julie nodded and Flynn gave him a small wave as she continued practicing the dance.

“What’s up?” Julie asked him. The blonde boy sat next to her own the bed and grabbed one of her pillows to squeeze against his chest.

“I was wondering…could you—?” he trailed off.

Julie nudged him with her shoulder. “Could I?

Alex’s face started turning red as he avoided her eyes. “Could you, maybe, do my make up tonight?” he rushed out.

Julie didn’t hesitate when she answered, “Of course I will! C’mere. I’m looking at make-up ideas right now. Let’s see if we can find something for you, too!”

Alex’s grin was so big that she was sure his face would split in half.

Just like that, the two of them scrolled through make-up tutorials on her laptop for the perfect look for each of them until the girls were called down to dinner.

When they walked downstairs, Julie wasn’t surprised to see Reggie about to disappear back into the garage before she got close enough for him to materialize in front of her dad. He enjoyed hanging out in the kitchen as her dad cooked and had one-sided conversations with him. Reggie winked at her just as he left, and she shook her head at the ghost.

Dinner passed fairly quickly. Carlos told them how he had already plotted out the best area for him to score the best candy and about his costume—he had decided on some character from one of his favorite video games. Her dad told the girls he would drop Carlos off at his friend’s house and be back at nine to take them to the party.

As soon as the plates were cleared, Julie and Flynn rushed back up stairs to start getting ready. Julie wasn’t surprised to find the guys already lounging around in her room, waiting for them to come back.

Flynn immediately claimed Julie’s desk and set to work to start on her make up for her costume. Julie grabbed the make up she had bought out of the shopping bag and tugged Alex over to the bed where Luke was laying.

She pushed Alex down to sit on the edge of the bed and pulled her laptop closer so she could copy the inspiration for his make-up. Luke moved to lay closer to them, on his stomach and watch what Julie was doing. From the corner of her eye, she saw Reggie drag the bean bag he was sitting on closer to watch, too.

Julie and Alex had decided on a simple green eye shadow look to match his costume. She was surprised when he said she could do the eye liner and lashes as well. He insisted on the glitter, too. Julie supported it and even agreed that the glitter would tie the whole look together, especially since she was planning on doing the same thing in lavender.

As she was applying the make-up, Luke and Reggie asked lots of questions about what she was doing. They weren’t being judgmental at all about Alex wearing make-up. They were just curious, and Julie patiently answered everything they asked.

When she finished with Alex, she applied a thin layer of setting spray to keep the make-up intact and told him not to touch his face so much. Julie handed him her mirror and carefully gauged his reaction.

Julie wished she had a camera because Alex looked so happy in that moment that she wanted to remember it forever.

He hugged her, squeezing her tighter than normal, and making Julie laugh. When he let her go, she shooed him off the bed so she could start working on her own make-up.

By the time she finished her face, Flynn had already started working on twisting her braids back into a crown on the top of her head. Julie glanced at the time and cursed when she realized it was already 7:45. She quickly spritzed the setting spray on her face and set to work on her hair.

The guys were still sitting around her, completely engrossed in watching the girls get ready. Alex had moved a little closer to Flynn and watched as she expertly arranged her braids how she wanted.

Once Julie tamed her hair enough into a high bun with loose curls strategically hanging around her face, she looked at Luke and Reggie.

“Do you guys need help with your costumes?” she asked the two boys.

Reggie shook his head. Luke, however, hesitantly licked his lips and glanced at Reggie and Alex before quietly saying, “Do you think you could help me out with that black stuff you put under your eyes?”

Julie blinked. “You mean eyeliner?”

“Yeah, yeah. That stuff. Could you put it on for me? I tried doing it in the garage and almost stabbed my eye a few times,” Luke laughed.

She laughed at the brunette boy but nodded. Julie grabbed her eyeliner pencil from her make up bag and kneeled down to get eye level with Luke.

“Try not to blink, okay? You might mess it up,” Julie explained before grabbing the boy’s chin in one hand to keep him steady.

Luke struggled not to blink as she applied the black charcoal under his eyes. Thankfully, he didn’t, and Julie was able to do it quickly, without him messing her up.

“Do you want it on the top, too?”

When he nodded, she said, “Okay, look straight at me. This might feel funny, but I need you to not blink.”

Julie managed to do a thick line on his eyelids in no time. She leaned back on her heels and smiled proudly. She handed the mirror to Luke this time and he smirked at his reflection.

“That’s perfect, Jules. Thanks,” he said, that very attractive smirk still dancing on his lips.

Julie smiled softly at him. This boy was something else, she thought to herself as their eyes stayed locked on each other.

“Hey Julie, ready to go get dressed?” Flynn asked, successfully snapping Julie’s gaze away from Luke.

“Huh? Oh yeah, yeah. Lets go,” Julie’s voice came out shaky. She quickly cleared her throat as she moved to get her costume out of the bag and followed her best friend out into the hall.

**Reggie’s POV**

“Wow. You two were making some serious heart eyes at each other,” Alex taunted Luke.

“Shut up. I was just telling her thank you,” Luke furrowed his brow at the blonde.

Reggie rolled his eyes and caught Alex’s eye.

For someone as smart as Luke, he could be completely oblivious sometimes.

“Whatever you say, man. I’m going to put the dog on while the girls get dressed,” Reggie said.

He rolled up to his feet and walked over to the other side of the room where he had set his costume down earlier.

“I’m sorry, the what?” Alex asked.

“You’ll see,” was all Luke said, following his best friend towards the bags.

“I don’t—okay,” Alex mumbled.

The boys all grabbed their respective bags and moved to opposite sides of the room to get changed.

When Reggie finished tugging the hot dog over his jeans and white t-shirt, he turned to see Luke and Alex were finishing with their costumes.

After finally helping Reggie off the ground, Luke had decided on a pirate costume. He was wearing the loose white shirt and snug black pants already. He was currently sitting on the edge of the bed and tugging on the combat boots he had borrowed from Reggie to tie the look together. When Reggie had told him getting the actual pirate boots that came with the costume would look better, Luke had firmly shut him down. It was either the combat boots or his usual Vans shoes, which would look ridiculous with the costume.

Reggie glanced at Alex and grinned. The drummer was wearing a light green fairy dress with pink detailing on it. He even had the matching wings and headband to go with it. The make-up Julie had done for him matched perfectly, especially the glitter that was sprinkled on his eyelids and cheekbones.

Alex had just finished slipping on his white tennis shoes when he met Reggie’s gaze. He smiled shyly at him.

“What do you think?” Alex asked shyly.

“Dude, you look amazing!” Reggie shouted. Luke looked up at his friend’s voice and his grin was as bright as Reggie’s.

“Wow look at you! You’re killing it,” Luke said proudly.

Alex grinned at his friends and did a little twirl so the skirt part could dance around his legs.

The girls walked in and their faces immediately lit up when they saw Alex.

“You look so good, oh my God!” Julie gushed. The two girls ran up to Alex and commented on how cut the outfit was and how his make-up complimented it so nicely.

Reggie was smiling at the exchange and noticed Luke had froze. He had been in the middle of buckling the thick black belt to match his costume when the girls walked in, and now he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off Julie.

Julie was in the same dress as Alex, except hers was in a lavender purple that complimented her dark skin. She had even placed the purple butterflies from their garage party performance into her bun. She had finished the costume with her white slip on Vans.

Reggie thought she looked absolutely adorable as a little fairy. Luke, however, was mesmerized.

He decided to save his friend the embarrassment of being caught staring at the girl and asked if Luke needed any help with his costume. His voice snapped Luke out of it, and he refocused on finishing the final touches to his pirate look.

Shaking his head, Reggie looked back at the girls as they finished fawning over Alex. Julie turned to the other boys and smiled widely.

“You really went with the hot dog costume, huh?” she asked.

“Dude, not cool,” Alex groaned.

Flynn looked very confused. “I don’t get it. What’s so wrong with the hot dog costume?”

Julie leaned over to whisper something in her friend’s ear and the other girl’s eyes widened.

No one said anything as Flynn processed the new information. Reggie took that moment to see the costume Flynn had picked for the party. She was wearing a white tank top looking thing with seashell embellishments across her chest, and a long, sparkly blue and purple skirt. Her make up made it look like she had scales on her face but not in a weird way, in Reggie’s opinion.

The girl’s loud laugh interrupted Reggie’s observation and made him jump.

“Oh, crap. That’s fantastic! I’m loving the dark humor, Reg,” Flynn laughed.

Reggie smiled proudly. “See? At least someone understands the method to my madness,” he looked pointedly at Luke.

The other boy rolled his eyes as he finished tying his red bandana around his head. “Whatever, my costume still came out better than yours,” was all Luke said.

They all looked over Luke’s costume. Flynn came closer, look him up and down once, before unbuttoning the top buttons of his white shirt to expose some of his bare chest underneath.

“There, much better. Very Jack Sparrow. I’m digging it,” Flynn nodded her approval.

Reggie furrowed his brow in confusion and glanced at Alex and Julie for explanation. That was when he noticed Julie was staring at Luke with a weird look on her face and her cheeks flushed red.

_So smart, yet so stupid,_ Reggie thought to himself.

Ray called up to the girls that it was time to go, successfully snapping Julie out of her daze.

The girls grabbed their purses. Julie turned back to the boys, suspiciously avoiding Luke’s eyes completely, and told them the address to the party. Once Alex repeated the address back to her to commit it to memory, both girls walked out of the room.

The boys could hear Ray say how beautiful the girls looked, and their voices faded as they moved to walk out of the house. The sound of the front door slamming shut echoed in the empty house.

“Alright, everyone ready?” Luke asked. The other two boys nodded, and, as a group, they all poofed out.

**Alex’s POV**

They reappeared in the garage to meet up with Willie.

His boyfriend was sprawled in the worn-out armchair, clearly waiting for them. When he locked eyes on Alex, Willie froze.

For the first time ever, Alex felt very self-conscious under his boyfriend’s gaze. He hadn’t told him what his costume was since it was a spur of the moment decision to match with Julie, and now he was worried of how Willie might react.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Luke and Reggie stand on either side of him in protective stances. Luke looked very intimidating with his dark make-up and the way his arms bulged underneath the white shirt when he crossed his arms over his exposed chest. Reggie couldn’t pull it off as well as Luke did in his ridiculous hotdog costume, mainly because he couldn’t cross his arms across his chest, but it was the thought that counted. With his best friends beside him, Alex felt a little better as Willie looked him up and down.

A moment of silence passed before Willie met his eyes and smiled. “Looking good, Alex. The green really makes your eyes pop.”

A sigh of relief escaped Alex before he moved to extend his hand out to his boyfriend. Willie gladly took it and pulled himself off the couch.

Alex noticed he wasn’t wearing a costume. Willie was wearing his usual jean shorts and patterned shirt get up, but he had put the coat he wore the night they all went to Caleb’s club for the first time over it. Alex couldn’t deny his boyfriend looked good.

He planted a soft kiss on Willie’s cheekbone, leaving a trace of lip gloss on the boy’s tanned skin.

“Ready to go?” Alex asked him softly.

“Ready when you are,” Willie replied with a cheeky smile.

He turned back to Luke and Alex, who wore matching smiles on their faces as they watched the exchange.

“Alrighty, let’s go,” Luke said, rubbing his hands together.

Since Alex was the only one who actually remembered the address Julie told them, he took the lead and they disappeared as a group. They reappeared a few houses down from the party, startling a stray cat at their sudden appearance.

The group of ghosts walked towards the house and were surprised to see the party was in full swing. There were groups of teenagers standing on the lawn and loud music echoed into the street. Alex noticed some of the teenagers were sitting on the brightly lit porch and handed out candy from a huge bowl to any trick or treaters that came by.

“Now what? We just wait for Julie to get here?” Reggie asked.

Alex nodded. “That’s pretty much all we can do.”

“Nah, they’re right there,” Luke nodded towards a black SUV that was pulling up to the house.

Sure enough, the boys watched as Julie and Flynn got out of Ray’s car and waved goodbye as he pulled away.

The ghosts strolled towards the girls.

“Are the guys here yet?” they heard Flynn ask.

“Um, I’m not sure. I don’t see them,” Julie looked around the lawn, sweeping her eyes for her friends. She turned her head in their direction and Alex waved to catch her attention.

“Oh, there they are!” Julie waved back. Flynn followed her friend’s gaze and waited until they moved close enough to them for the group to materialize.

“I am never going to get used to that,” Flynn told Julie, who laughed.

“Yeah, it took me awhile to get used to them randomly popping up out of nowhere.”

Julie moved her gaze over them before focusing on Willie.

“You must be Willie! It’s so good to meet you! I’m Julie,” she said kindly, extending her hand out to the ghost boy.

Willie was shocked to say the least. His eyes were slightly bulging out of his head and his jaw had dropped. “Holy shit, you can see me?”

Alex looked at Luke and Reggie, who were as shocked as he was. They had talked about what might happen if Julie couldn’t see willie, but they all hoped whatever magic the girl had would work on his boyfriend. Sure enough, her abilities that none of them seemed to understand extended to Willie, which made absolutely no sense to them.

Julie laughed good-naturedly. “Yeah, I didn’t know if it would work on you, but I can see you clear as day.”

She turned to Flynn and asked, “Can you see him?”

The other girl nodded.

“Yeah, he kind of shimmers a little, but he’s definitely there. He’s cute, too,” she looked over at Alex with a smile dancing on her lips. “Good job, babe. Proud of you for finding a cute ghost to boo up. I’m Flynn by the way,” she told Willie.

Willie nodded at the girl, “Nice to meet you. I love your costume! You make for a very realistic mermaid.”

The group all laughed. Willie reached out to take Julie’s still extended hand.

“It’s amazing to finally meet you, Julie. These three have told me great things about you,” Willie said.

Alex, Luke, and Reggie all groaned.

“Oh really? I didn’t realize they talked about me to other ghosts,” Julie smirked at her bandmates.

“Are you kidding? They don’t shut up about you, especially Luke,” Willie leaned closer to Julie to say the last part.

“C’mon, man!” Luke groaned.

Julie raised an eyebrow at the brunette.

“Any who, let’s go in! I’m dying to see what costume Carrie made her daddy splurge on,” Flynn said, leading the group towards the house.

**Luke’s POV**

The party wasn’t as impressive as the one’s he used to go to back in 1995 and definitely didn’t come close to Caleb’s club, but Luke had a blast.

When they had first walked in, Alex had gotten a few strange looks for his choice in costume, but a few fierce glares from Luke and Julie had stopped anyone from making a rude comment. After that, the group had gotten a lot of compliments on their performances and several of Julie’s classmates asked for selfies.

Flynn had told them that Julie and the Phantoms were basically celebrities at their high school. Julie’s secretiveness about the guys and where they were from kept everyone interested in who the holograms actually were. Now that they were in person and tangible to lifers, the guys were being bombarded with fans.

Luke kept close to Julie as person after person came up to them. Flynn had wandered off to mingle. Reggie bounced back and forth between standing with them and talking to Alex and Willie. After awhile, the excitement about the band making an appearance at the party died down, and the group was left to just hang out and enjoy themselves.

Julie went to go say hi to Nick since it was, after all, his party, leaving Luke to glare at the other boy from where he sat next to Alex and Reggie on the couch.

“Man, if you glare any harder at the kid, you might burn a hole through his head,” Willie chuckled from Alex’s other side.

“I don’t think he would mind that actually,” Alex told his boyfriend.

“Yeah, Lukey poo here, _hates_ Nick. He gets all jealous and pissy whenever Julie talks to him,” Reggie chimed in.

Luke slumped lower in his seat. “They’re dance partners. Why would I care if she talks to him? She could do way better anyways.”

“You say that, and yet here you are, giving him the meanest mug I have ever seen,” Willie said.

Julie picked that moment to make her way back towards the boys.

“What’s with the face?” she asked Luke, who still looked very grumpy.

Luckily, he was saved from answering when Flynn reappeared from the crowd of teenagers.

“Come on! Get off your butts. Let’s go dance,” she chided the ghosts sitting on the couch.

She grabbed Julie’s hand and began tugging her towards the makeshift dancefloor on the other side of the living room. Julie snatched Luke’s hand and yanked him off the couch to follow the girls. He had managed to grab Alex’s wrist before he was out of reach and pull the blonde along with him, meaning Reggie and Willie of course followed after them.

The group joined the cluster of teenagers dancing along to some crappy pop song that was blasting on the huge stereo in the corner of the room. As much as they hated the song, the boys all jumped and twisted with the girls to the beat of the music.

Song after song passed, but the group just kept dancing and laughing together.

It was the most fun Luke had in a while, and he made a mental note to thank Julie for inviting them later. Reggie was dancing terribly in his hotdog costume and kept tripping, making the girls laugh. Alex and Willie were in their own world, dancing together and Luke couldn’t remember the last time he saw his friend smile this much.

Yeah, it wasn’t what Luke had pictured his life to be, especially considering he was a ghost. Hell, it was way different than his life back in 1995, but he wouldn’t change it. He would always thank whatever otherworldly entity had brought them to Julie because, without her, him and his friends would be stuck in that dark room still. Without her, Alex never would have met Willie and grown comfortable with himself. Reggie wouldn’t have met her kind soul or found a new father figure in her dad. Luke loved his friends and bandmates more than anything else in the world, even more than music. And he had the beautiful girl smiling at him to thank for giving him a second chance at life.


End file.
